Half Truths

By Erick San Juan

From the words of the late US President Franklin D. Roosevelt – “Nothing accidental ever happens in politics.” And if ever there will be a historical account of some events that took place in a ‘miraculous way’ or accidentally in the political arena, the possibility of hiding something is high. To tell half truths of any given event in order to protect some vested interest is convenient for any writer to use.

That is why when the book Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State by George P. Shultz was mentioned to me (which was heard over RMN radio program of Butch Valdes), I searched on the internet on what was written in that book regarding the ouster of Marcos.

Taken from the chapter of the said book, The Philippines: Marcos v. Aquino (http://www.turmoilandtriumph.org/reaganyears/marcos_v_aquino.php), In the developing world, budding democracies can retain some authoritarian aspects. In the early 1980s, this was certainly true of the Philippines. President Ferdinand Marcos was a staunch U.S. ally and President Reagan valued him as such. Marcos was also anti-communist, which aligned with U.S.’s strategic interests. But Secretary of State George Shultz was uneasy about placing too much faith in Marcos.

“He was a shrewd politician who ruled like a monarch in the trappings of democracy,” recalls Shultz in his book Turmoil and Triumph. “He ended martial law in 1981 but retained most of the powers that it had provided him. He had established himself as staunchly pro-American and anti-Communist.” (T&T, p. 608-609)

Shultz’s discomfort with Marcos created tension between himself and President Reagan. While FM’s authoritarian streak was not exactly in keeping with the American ideals Reagan so loved, the Soviet menace and concern about communist proxy states were still justifiably widespread in 1982. Reagan’s Realpolitik meant keeping Marcos close, at least for a time.

But what went wrong?

Marcos whose loyalty to the Americans is an open secret became the target of a cabal of a secret organization of world leaders, the Trilateral Commission, through its Chairman David Rockefeller and member George Shultz where Marcos had been a part of. The real mandate of the ‘commission’ was to level the playing field and return the so called ‘war booties’ to the country claimants. Due to the prescriptive period of the loots, Marcos made a brilliant idea and requested for a minting plant installed at the Philippine Central Bank in Quezon City. Instead of following his puppet masters, he produced his own gold bars minted and registered under the Republic of the Philippines to cover his ownership of the gold bars. With the death of Ninoy, plus the uncontrollable and ambitious Imelda, made the extraction of FM much easier.

For more detailed information on this topic, please read my books, Marcos Legacy Revisited, Raiders of the Lost Gold and Conspiracies and Controversies and know the missing link of the half truths concocted by Marcos and Imelda. If only Imelda and her children followed my advice in 1998 which was reiterated recently by Atty. Oliver Lozano, we could all have benefitted from it.

Actually I’m putting a closure to the lost opportunities not only for the Marcoses but to the Filipino people in my new book, Dossiers, on who really masterminded Ninoy’s assassination and why was Imelda acquitted in her New York cases despite the voluminous evidences and even returned to the Philippines by the US in spite of Cory Aquino who was the president during that time and many more.

There is so much to learn from history especially from the present leadership. Unfortunately, Philippine political setting is always woven with the ‘invisible hand’ using manipulated leaders-turned-collaborators from all levels of the government. And presently the Philippine situation is like a ticking bomb and we could be the next failed state like Afghanistan and Yemen if our silent majority and well meaning patriots will not get their act together to avert these man-made calamities created by our corrupt leaders and their business cohorts.

Filipinos should be wary and must take action if necessary as we are all being taken for a ride (chubibo) here for the nth time.